Intensity
by CavalierQueen
Summary: Longish drabble about what happens during Person of Interest BA
1. Chapter 1

A/N: A drabble that got a little longish. Hope you enjoy. Takes place during Person of Interest.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Chapter 1

Exhausted, Bobby left the squad room long after everyone else had left. He felt compelled to stay there and face the condemnation of his co-workers that seemed endless all day. Alex of course didn't blame him, at least not anymore. Of course, she had said her piece yesterday in private. "You didn't listen, Bobby. You didn't listen to what his wife said." Those words reverberated in his mind all the night before and the entire day, along with the headlines accusing him of driving Croyden to suicide. He had held his head up all day, stayed while everyone stared at him, accusations in their eyes. It was his penance. Something was not right here, it turns out the evidence would have cleared Croyden if only he hadn't been so blinded. But blinded he was, and someone had died because of it.

He sighed heavily as he left the empty squad room, untying his tie as he walked towards the elevators. He unconsciously folded it neatly and put it in his coat pocket. His thoughts hung heavy on his shoulders, almost like physical weights placed there to drag him down. As he left the elevator on the ground floor he had already decided he wasn't going home. Instead, he headed for his favorite restaurant where he could be comfortably anonymous.

He watched the limousine drive away with Nicole and her husband in it. He was glad he hadn't eaten much of his dinner as his stomach roiled at the idea that she was back. He immediately flipped his phone opened and punched in speed dial for Alex. "Eames," she answered, sounding out of breath.

"She's back. She's back Alex."

"Who's back?" Alex asked totally confused at being interrupted during her workout.

"Nicole. She is back. She just flaunted herself and her new rich husband to me at dinner."

"Bobby, I'll meet you at the station in half an hour. Call the captain." Alex had switched into total control mode, giving orders to a shaken Bobby. "Ask the captain to call Carter too. We need all of us there. You only need to tell the story once."

Bobby felt relieved at her cool efficiency. He was badly shaken at having Nicole show up to interrupt his dinner. He couldn't help but think the terrible headlines that had destroyed his credibility and her revealing herself now were all tied together. He needed to think, but he needed to think it all out with Alex. He had gotten to where he really worked better if he talked things out loud bouncing things back and forth with Alex. She grounded him, and if ever there was a time he needed to be grounded, now was it. He hailed a cab back to One PP.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Alex's POV

Alex had watched her partner shuffle around all day, his guilt and frustration showing in his shoulders and his more pronounced shuffle. She was convinced he didn't even bother to pick up his feet. Of course, it didn't help that he had found evidence to clear Croyden after the man had gone and killed himself. And while Carter and the captain didn't hold him responsible, the newspapers and his colleguescolleagues were a different story.

After watching him drag himself around all day, she needed a break. She loved her partner, even though he didn't know it, and no one else needed to know it either. Even so, the almost physical intensity that radiated off of him sometimes was enough to exhaust even her seemingly inexhaustible reserves. His crushing guilt spilled from him like a tidal wave over her, dragging her along with it. She felt like she should have offered to have dinner with him, or something, but instead she just left like usual to go to her workout. She felt bad about that, he seemed so alone in all of this. But, he wasn't a child, and she really had had enough of the deep darkness that enveloped him.

When her phone rang and she saw it was Bobby, she almost ignored it. She was almost done with her 10 mile run, and still was feeling his presence, a presence that right now she didn't want to have around her. His personality was so powerful, it followed her even on the treadmill. Damn. "Eames," she answered briefly, breathing hard from her run.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

They were all convened in the captain's office at One Police Plaza. The only one still in their clothes of the day was Bobby. Everyone else had gone on to their after work activities and when the call went out, they came as they were.

Bobby updated them on his meeting with Nicole, and her allusions to his sullied reputation. That, along with the evidence that, as Alex had noted earlier in the day, miraculously cleared Croyden, made it clear to them that Nicole had orchestrated the whole debacle. Bobby put it all together for them, laying the puzzle pieces out one by one, showing the house of cards that Nicole had lain out to trap him. And he had walked right into it. His disgust with himself rolled off of him in waves. He started to shuffle out the door while Carter was still talking. It was like he simply stopped hearing.

Alex looked at the two men in the room, shrugged her shoulders, and followed Bobby out. This was one of those times he might close her off completely, or he might need her more than ever. She couldn't tell which it would be, but she wasn't leaving him alone to deal with this on his own. She slowly walked towards the interrogation room where she could see Bobby holding himself up against the mirror.

He felt her presence before he saw her. He knew she would come. He needed her to come.

"She got me. She used a man she knew I wouldn't trust, a man like my father. She got me good," he almost sobbed the last words.

Alex moved closer to him. "Well then, let's get her back." Her confidence helped bolster his somewhat. He took a deep breath and leaned against the glass, his forehead pressed against the coolness of the mirror. She moved behind him, gingerly touching his back, not sure if he would accept her touch or not. His pain spread out from him, filling the room, her cool touch and the coolness of the mirror on his forehead allowing him to reign in his emotions.

"When did you last eat?" Alex asked, knowing he hadn't had anything all day. "Come with me." She took his hand and led him away with her. He needed her strength and care now, to dampen down the intensity that threatened to consume him from the inside out.

As they walked past the captain's office, she nodded to them briefly. "We'll be in early to get started on this. Right now, we need to eat and rest. See you tomorrow." Her tone left no room for either man to object, although both noticed her holding Bobby's hand and leading him away, whispering to him as they left.

She drove the SUV to her apartment. When she parked and started to open the door, it startled Bobby out of his stupor. "Why are we here, Alex?" he asked surprised. He had been completely oblivious to the current situation, instead replaying what could have been done differently and what their next steps should be. His actual current situation was of little regard to him and he was not paying attention.

"I'm going to feed you and make sure you sleep," she said with the authority of a woman who is not to be messed with. "You are no good to us at all and a danger to yourself if you aren't rested and well enough to confront Nicole. She gets to you every time Bobby. This time, we are going to get her. But you have to be at the top of your game to do it. I can't do it alone." She walked around to his side of the car and opened the door. "Bobby, I will drag you up the stairs if I have to."

Bobby started to laugh slightly. "And just how are you going to do that, Alex?" She was glad to see him show some humor after the long day.

"Believe me Goren, if you piss me off enough, I'll drag your sorry ass up the stairs. Move it."

"Yes, ma'am," Bobby pulled his tired body out of the SUV and followed Alex up the stairs to her apartment.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Alex was in the kitchen cleaning up the omelets she had made them for dinner. She could hear Bobby pacing the floor, thinking through their strategy for dealing with Nicole. He would have a hard time sleeping tonight, but she really was worried that he must get some rest to deal with Nicole. She always seemed to slip through their fingers. And this time, she had Gavin Haynes to protect her. She dried her hands on the cup towel and set the coffee maker up for lots of coffee in the morning, and remembering her promise to the Captain, she set an earlier start time so they could get up and get going.

She walked into the living room. "Bobby? What's on your mind?" She tried to keep her tone nonchalant, as if he wasn't worrying the whole situation to death. She was pleased when he sat next to her on the couch. She surreptitiously checked her carpet for wear patterns from his pacing.

"Thanks for dinner Alex. I really do feel better. Who would have thought that an omelet could serve as comfort food?" His mood had lifted greatly. A little wine, a little food, things were looking up Alex thought.

"Well that is what Kay Scarpetta always served the Lt. on late night dinners to discuss cases."

"Kay Scarpetta?"

"Yeah, you know. The coroner turned wunderkind crime solver? I know, it is probably too pedestrian for you. You don't read such proletarian literature, Goren? I thought you read everything." Alex was pleased to see how they had moved into a teasing conversation instead of the heavy ones they had been having throughout the day.

"No, I've read a few. I just wouldn't have made a food selection based on one of those books." He was smiling at her now. Things were definitely looking up.

"Well, I've got some in the bookshelf over there. Help yourself to them if you want to expand your mind. It's not Smithsonian after all, but still there must be something useful in there. Otherwise I have been wasting my time," she teased.

"I wouldn't say that, the omelet was a good idea. It can't be a total loss."

She smiled at him, so happy that he seemed to be letting the troubles of the world fall off of his shoulders. "Bobby, I'm so glad you seem to feel better. I can't bear to see you beating yourself up like today."

He sighed and leaned his head back against the sofa. "It was a bad day certainly. But then you rode in on your white horse, and brought me back to myself," he turned his head to face her. "I need you Alex. You ground me."

Tears came to Alex's eyes. She reached her hand over to his graying curls and touched them gently. "I need you too Bobby." He surprised her by taking her hand and bringing her palm to his lips, brushing her skin with a kiss.

Alex caught her breath.

Bobby released her hand. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"No Bobby. Don't apologize. I didn't expect it, but it was not unwanted."

They sat there on the sofa, looking into each other's eyes, unsure what to do now. She moved her hand over to his head, tracing the lines on his forehead, down his cheeks and to his lips. "Bobby, I…" Words failed her.

He took her tiny hand and placed it comfortably in his large one, tracing the lines on her hand with his forefinger. She watched mesmerized as his finger continued its journey past her wrist onto her forearm, past her elbow and up her muscled biceps. Once he reached her collar bone, she could only track it by touch, feeling him tracing the line of her collar bone to her neck, swallowing when he ran his finger across her throat, breathing heavily as his fingers arrived at her lips. Just that one finger, exploring her body that way, barely touching her skin, had her more aroused than she could remember.

She took his finger into her mouth, gently sucking on it, exploring his finger with her tongue, the way that finger had just explored her. He pulled his finger from her, placing both hands on either side of her face, looking deep into her eyes. Slowly, confidently, he brought his face to hers, his forehead resting on her forehead. "Alex?"

"Yes, Bobby?" Her heart was beating fast and her breathing was shallow. She brought her hands up to his face, holding his face as he was holding hers.

"I love you. It's that simple, and that complicated."

Alex reached across the small space that still separated them, pulling his lips to hers. "I love you too, Bobby."


End file.
